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Saturday, March 14, 2015

Blog #181: A day in the life and why am I even doing this?

Hi Friends. At the end of the day today I will be a solid 1 week and 1/4 of the way through my Whole 30 (preshortened to 28 for Easter) challenge.

So, why am I doing this?

Officially: Curiosity, the desire to reset my system from sugar/processed food overload, wanting to feel better and have more consistent energy.

Honestly: I wanted to lose the 5-7lb of winter weight gain so my pants wouldn't be snug anymore.

There, it's out there. Initially 100% of my motivation for this challenge was weight related. It's not like anyone is surprised. I have never had the greatest relationship with weight and body image.

HOWEVER.

Nearly immediately upon researching and starting the challenge, I realized that it is about SO. MUCH. MORE. And after getting deep into the book I realized that not ONLY is it about more but weight is probably the LEAST important thing I should be focusing on when I am trying to stay motivated. In fact, the way my view of food is changing will probably be the best thing I can get out of this experiment.

So, now, I'm really doing this because my body needs and deserves nourishment and respect. If adding sugars/grains/legumes/dairy on a regular basis doesn't get me closer to that, then I don't want to add them. And, 7 days in, I'm actually feeling really good about it and still sort of waiting for the other shoe to drop. I'm NOT starving myself and in fact I'm not even counting calories or worrying about the amount of any of these good foods that I'm eating.

Just to show you how I'm NOT starving, here is a day in the life (I kept track on a notebook yesterday)

Breakfast was 2 eggs scrambled with sliced onions/squash/zucchini and half an apple with sunbutter (sunflower seed butter - like peanut butter without the health downside)Lunch was a 2 cup salad of spinach and baby greens, carrots, tomato, zucchini and squash, peppers, chicken dressed with olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper, on the side a hard boiled egg, and 2 clementines2:30pm: I ate a handful of mixed nuts (almonds/cashews and other tree nuts) and a clementine as a snack so I could have energy for a workout.Later I went on a little over an hour alternating brisk walk/jog/run (I like to run hard up big hills) and then stopped at the grocery store for some supplies at the end of the workout in a couple hours.Post workout I had a banana and some sunbutter
An hour later I ate dinner - a grass fed ground beef patty, half a tomato, a ton of green beans sauteed in EVOO.*Throughout day: at least a gallon of water consumed - this is not on the plan, just a continuation of one of my only good health habits before I started

I haven't had any crazy cravings, heavy fatigue, or any pissiness that were any different than they would have been at the time of month that I chose to start the challenge.

Also, because food choices can be weirdly divisive and sometimes seem like a judgement, please know this: my choices are just simply that - my choices. They are not judgments on your choices and in fact have nothing to do with you. We're all living in a way that makes sense to us and trying to make things work how we can so if you're fine with your choices than so am I (though if you take my choices to be judgment on your choices that tells me that maybe you AREN'T so fine with your choices - I can't help you with that)